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Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors at the AGO

There is a hugely popular exhibition currently on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors showcases some of the Japanese artist’s most iconic work, including six of her kaleidoscopic and immersive “Infinity Rooms”. Advance tickets to the exhibition are completely sold out – my friends were fortunate (or crazy, lining up at 7am) to get some limited same-day rush tickets, so this was an opportunity to see what all the buzz was about.

Yayoi Kusama (草間 彌生) is widely considered as one of the most important living artists to come out of Japan. The 89-year old continues to work out of her Tokyo studio, with many of her installations found around the world (you might recognize her whimsical and brightly coloured polka-dot sculptures). Just last year the Yayoi Kusama Museum opened in Tokyo featuring her work – I hope to visit that one day.

The AGO exhibition includes over 90 of Kusama’s works dating from various periods throughout her 65-year career, but the key attractions are the Infinity Rooms and various “peepholes” that allow you to contemplate the infinite through mirrored interiors. Some of them include spectacular flickering light displays. Due to their small size and popularity, access is limited to 2 or 3 visitors at a time, with a time limit of 20 or 30 seconds. So yeah, enjoy but do it quickly!

Please excuse the (lack of) photo quality below, as I didn’t bring my usual camera. These were taken with my now three-generation old iPhone.